COC’s shopkit mobile store assembles like diy furniture
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Hiroshima-based design studio COC has completed SHOPKIT, a mobile store that can be assembled and dismantled like DIY furniture. In its form, SHOPKIT draws on Japanese design principles and makes use of simple materials, forms, and expressions for a lightweight structure that can be easily moved around the city to activate various urban lots. The store is shaped by a minimalist composition of wood, steel, and polycarbonate for a bright and friendly structure, while a split shop curtain hangs around the entrance for use as a sunshade and shop icon in traditional Japanese style.
COC unveils SHOPKIT mobile store | all images by Tatsuya Tabii
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designed to activate vacant urban lots in hiroshima
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The project arose from the need to create a temporary structure in replacement for a building that was undergoing reconstruction. After the building was back up, SHOPKIT was repurposed so that it would not go to waste. Extending its use, COC designed a mobile architecture that can be used in various vacant spaces around the town — particularly the parks surrounding the several rivers that flow through Hiroshima — creating the structure with a design that centers on movability, storability, and functionality.Â
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SHOPKIT mobile store can be enclosed by two types of single doors and a double door. When the doors are closed, the store reveals the proportions of furniture, and can be moved with casters. The single door type is compact and contains functions within one box, allowing the structure to be assembled immediately. The double door type combines two boxes and features a more spacious interior infused with light and fitted with work counters on all sides. The counters are held in place with magnets for easy and quick assembly.Â
assembly process of single door type
compact SHOPKIT mobile store appears to have the profile of a furniture piece when closed
double door type can allow for a more spacious interior
a translucent facade to allow in ample light
